1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to mobile wireless communications devices capable of processing cryptographically secure messages and information. In particular, the disclosure is directed to a method and apparatus for providing a user of a mobile wireless communications device with descriptive error messaging information to assist the user in decrypting a cryptographically secured message where information necessary for decrypting the message, such as, for example, a particular private key(s), are not present on the user's mobile wireless communications device.
2. Related Art
Exchanging cryptographically secured electronic messages and data, such as, for example, e-mail messages, is well known. Typically, the user of a device for receiving such cryptographically secured electronic information, such as, for example, a mobile wireless communications device, is provided with a store containing private keys, certificates, and the like, required for decrypting various cryptographically secured information. Occasionally, the secure message may be encrypted with a public key for which the store of the mobile wireless communications device does not include a corresponding private key or certificate for decrypting the message.
Existing e-mail processing software, such as, for example, Microsoft Outlook™, does not provide any detailed information when a decryption error is detected. The error messages provided by such conventional systems are typically cryptic error messages that do not describe exactly what the problem is or what needs to be done to overcome the problem. For example, in an instance where a cryptographically secured e-mail message cannot be decrypted because the user's communication device (e.g., a wireless handheld device, desktop, etc.) does not have the corresponding private key of a public key private key pair, that is necessary for properly decrypting the message, conventional systems merely provide a cryptic, terse and uninformative message, such as, for example, “Can't open this item. Your digital ID name cannot be found by the underlying security system.” Messages of this type provide the typical user who is unfamiliar with cryptographically secured messaging with little helpful information for remedying the problem so that the message can be decrypted and read. This uninformative error messaging tends to confuse and frustrate users who merely want to be able to read the message.
This problem is further exacerbated in systems employing certificates with relatively small validity protocols or by key inventories that have high rollover rates. As described above, the information typically provided by conventional e-mail processing software tends only to indicate the existence of a problem, for example, that a message cannot be decrypted, but does not provide the unsophisticated user with enough information to solve the problem. In other words, merely identifying the existence of a problem without providing any remedial information to assist the user in overcoming the problem is a fundamental drawback of conventional cryptographically secured electronic messaging systems, such as, for example, wireless handheld communications devices.